Even now I can't describe why I love skating so much.

My parents never pressured me to skate. They always said I could quit if I wanted to. They only expected me to skate when they had already paid for the expensive lessons. But, otherwise they said I could do what I wanted to do.

Falling down became second nature and it really didn't bother me.

I worked also, doing things such as our paper route and, later on, waitressing.

People would ask me why I was doing what I was doing - but I always told them that I just loved to skate. There was no other explanation.

I was thrilled one year when I was younger when not only did my brothers get hockey sticks for Christmas - but I did too!

My dad worked several jobs to pay for my expense in skating.